Flake filling mechanism for spinning frames



July7,1936. LBMCKE wN 2,046,919

FLAKE FILLING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING FRAMES Filed Nov. 25, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l IRMA .5 MQKEOWN awe/Mm y 1936. I. B. McKEOWN 2,046,919

FLAKE FILLING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING FRAMES 7 Filed Nov. 25, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [EMA m kzowrv July 7, 1936. B. McKEOWN FLAKE FILLING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING FRAMES Filed Nov. 25,1935 5 Sheets-Sheet s IRMA 5. M KEQWN swam/how Patented July 7, 1936 PATENT osrles FLAKE FILLING DIECHANISM FOR SPINNING FRAMES Irma B. McKeown, Chester, S. 0.

Application November 25, 1935, Serial No. 51,547

1 Claim.

This invention relates to an attachment which is applied to spinning frames, and the like to make hemilay'fillings commonly known as slubs or flake filling. This filling or yarn, when in 5 finished form, is merely a strand with enlarged portions at spaced intervals therein for the purpose of producing an ornamental design in fabrics when woven thereinto. In this invention the desired effect is produced by introducing an extra stock of yarn immediately behind the front roll in the spinning frame by temporarily accelerating the center and back rolls to cause them to rotate at approximately the same revolutions per minute as the front rolls. After this extra stock has been introduced the back rolls assume their normal revolutions per minute which is approximately one-twelfth of that of the front rolls; therefore an enlarged section will be produced inthe roving since the draft at this point, when the back and middle rolls are accelerated will be practically eliminated. It is of course evident that the relative speeds of rotation between the front rolls and the other rollers as a unit can be varied to suit conditions and to bring about the desired effect in the manufactured product.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to produce a flake filling by forming thick places in the yarn between the intermediate and front rolls at predetermined intervals by reducing or stopping the drawing operation so as to produce intermittently spaced enlarged portions in the strand.

It is a further object of this invention to pro vide means for periodically accelerating the two back rolls to a speed greater than the normal speed of said rolls so as to maintain the same draft between the two back rolls but to reduce the draft between the front rolls and the inter:- mediate rolls, thereby producing an enlarged place in the yarn.

It is very important that the undrawn or partially drawn portions. occur between the front and intermediate rolls, because at this point the draft is much greater than between the back and intermediate rolls. The draft be-- tween the front and intermediate rolls is sufii-- cient to take up the slack in the strand, 50 whereas if the thick places are formed between the back and intermediate rolls, a slack will occur in the strand due toinsufficient draft between the two rolls, consequently the fibers will not be properly consolidated at this point. In 55 the present apparatus no slack occurs, therefore the strand is carried forward in its proper path of travel without lateral deviation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a clutch mechanism in combination with a draft gear of a spinning frame with independent 5 means for accelerating the draft gear at a speed greater than its normal rate of rotation at predetermined intervals and means incorporated in the clutch mechanism to cause the draft gear to immediately resume its normal 10 rate ofspeed upon the cessation of the acceleration thereby taking all lost motion out of the clutch mechanism and preventing any stoppage in the draft gear when said gear changes from one speed to another. 15

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated} other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:-

a Figure 1 is an end view of a portion of a 29 spinning frame with the invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view of one side of the spinning frame and taken along line 2-2 in Figure 1; 5

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 33 in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along 1ine-4--4 in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along 30 line 5- 5 in Figure 2;

other intermediate gear i3 which is fixedly secured on shaft 14, said shaft l4 being rota'tably 45 mounted also in end support it. An arm l5 has one end thereof pivotally secured as at It to intermediate gear l3 and the other end pivotally secured as at IT to a lever E8, the lever I8 being pivoted as at H! to the end support [0.

Pivoted as at 25 to the upper end of lever I8 is a hooked dog 26 which is normally held in a depression position as shown in Figure l by means of compression spring 21 which spring encircles a pin 28. The pin 28 is fixedly secured in overhanging portion l8a. of lever l8.

The free end of dog 26 is normally supported by the horizontal arm 29 of bell crank 38. The bell crank 30 is pivoted as at 3| to end support 16. The down-standing leg 32 of bell crank 36 has rotatably mounted on the lower end thereof as at 33 a gear 34, which gear meshes with gear 35 fixedly secured on intermediate shaft I4 adjacent the intermediate gear l3. In order to normally hold the gears 34 and 35 in contact with each other, a tension spring 3].

has one end secured to the end of arm 29 and the other end thereof secured as at 38 to and frame l0.

Secured to the front side of gear 34 is a pattern gear which has occasional teeth 4| so spaced as to be staggered with relation to the teeth of the gear 34. The gear 35 has a dog or projection 42 secured to the side thereof which in reality merely acts as an extension of one of the teeth on the gear 35. It is evident that as the gear 35 revolves that the projection 42 will contact one of the teeth in pattern gear 40 and thereby prevent the gears 35 and 34 from meshing. When this is done the bell crank 30 will be rotated a small amount in a counter-clockwise manner and cause the dog 26 to be pushed upwardly into a position as shown in Figure '7. It should be noted that the pivot point I6 is disposed at 180 degrees from the dog 42, (Fig. 1), thereby placing the hook 26a in the extreme left hand position when the projection 42; engages one of the teeth 4! of the pattern gear 40. This makes it possible for the hook portion 26a on the end of hook member 26 to fall to the left of projection 44 on the lower side of horizonally disposed shaft 45 so that when the lever I8 is oscillated again to the right this shaft 45 will be carried with it by the dog 26. While only five teeth are shown in pattern gear 40, it is evident that the number of teeth can be Varied in the gear to conform to the type of filling desired to be manufactured.

The shaft 45 is slidably mounted in brackets 46 and 41 which are secured to the side of end support ill by any suitable means such as stud bolts 48 and 49 which penetrate slots 59 and Bi respectively in said brackets, A collar 52 is fixedly secured on the shaft 45 and confines the left-hand end of a compression spring 53 on said shaft, the other end of said compression spring being normally adapted to engage the left-hand face of bracket 46 (Fig. 1 to norr mally cause the shaft to be pressed to the left in Figure. l.

Pivotally secured as at 54 to the end of shaft 45 is a link 55 which has its other end pivotally secured as at 56 to the lower leg of bell crank 57. This bell crank is pivoted as at 58 to the end support I6 and the upper leg of this bell crank has pivoted thereto as at 59 a link 68. The other end of link 66 is pivoted as at to collar 66, which collar is loosely mounted around the hub 61. This hub is fixedly secured to draft gear shaft 69 by any suitable means such as key stud 68 which is threadably secured in the shaft 69 and has the head portion thereof fitting into a suitable slot cut in the hub. The hub 61 has a plurality of slots '58 cut longitudinally thereof and each slot 70 has an adjacent cavity or bore H which is adapted to accommodate a compression spring 12. This compression spring normally forces roller 13 which is inserted in the slot against the interior surface of collar 56 and against the base of slot 10.

By referring to Figure 5, it will be noted these slots 10 are not cut normal to the radius of the hub 61, but instead they are cut at an acute angle thereto; therefore, when the hub 61 and the shaft 69 rotate in a counter-clockwise manner in Figures 1 and 5, the collar 66 will not be disturbed because the rotation of the hub 61 will normally tend to force each of the rollers 13 towards the diverged or enlarged end of the slots '16. Nevertheless, it is seen that the springs 12 normally keep the rollers 73 in contact with the interior surface of the collar 66 and also in contact with the base of the slots 10 at all times.

However, let us assume that the projection 42 in Figure '7 has contacted one of the teeth 4| and thereby rotated the bell crank 30 about its pivot point and caused the hook 26a to engage the projection 44 on horizontal shaft 45. When this is done the shaft will be suddenly jerked to the right in Figure 1, which, in turn, will cause the bell crank 51 to be rotated in a counterclockwise manner (Fig. 1) to also rotate the collar 66 in the same manner.

Now it should be noted that this sudden movement to the right of the shaft 45 will produce a counter-clockwise rotation of collar 66 of a very much higher speed than the normal speed of the draft gear shaft 69 and the hub 61. Since this is the case the rollers 13 will be wedged in between the interior surface of the collar 66 and the base of slots 18 and also cause the shaft 69 to be rotated in a clockwise manner at this higher speed. Of course when the lever l8 has oscillated to its extreme right-hand position and has completed its stroke the hook 2611 will be forced from out of engagement with the projection 44 by spring 21 to allow member 26 to oscillate back and forth in lowermost position as shown in Figure 1 until another gear tooth 4| contacts the projection 42, at which time the same operation will be repeated.

The intermediate gear l3 also meshes with another gear 15 which is fixed on shaft 16 for driving the front bottom roll of the spinning frame. Gear 15 has integral with the inner face thereof another gear I! which meshes with crown gear 18, said crown gear being also loosely mounted on hub 61 adjacent the collar 66. Likewise, a plurality of rollers 88 are mounted in the slots l'll of hub 61 and these, rollers engage the interior surface of the crown gear 18 in the same manner that the rollers 13 engage the interior surface of the collar 66. Each of these rollers 88 are normally pressed into engagement with the interior surface of the crown gear 18 and the base of slots I0 by means of suitable compression springs 89 which rest in bores 98 cut in the hub 61.

It is very important that two sets of rollers be mounted in the slots 10, that is, one set of rollers for the collar 66 and another set of rollers for the crown gear 18. If only one set of rollers were provided for the members 66 and 18, the tendency would be to cause the rollers to be thrown diagonally of the slots 19 when the collar 66 was suddenly accelerated. The collar 66 would only engage one end of long rollers and the rollers would receive their forward motion by reason of the collar 66' engaging one end thereof; There would likewise be a tendency to jam the clutch mechanism at. the time the collar 66 is returned to normal position. by means, of, compression. spring; 5.3 while the crown gear continues its normal forward speed. For this reason, two sets of rollers have been provided so that when the two members are travelling in opposite directions or at different speeds in the same direction, there will be no danger of the rollers becoming jammed or locked in the slots I0. Plates 65 and 86 have been secured on opposed sides of hub 61 to hold the collar 66 and the crown gear I6 in position on said hub.

The draft gear shaft 69 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 9I which bearing is secured to the end support I0 by any suitable means such as bolt 92. Fixedly secured on the other end of this shaft is draft gear 93, which meshes with another gear 94 disposed on the end lower back roll I02 of the spinning frame. The end 95 also has a smaller gear 96 fixedly secured thereon which meshes with an intermediate gear 91 rotatably mounted on swing arm 98. This intermediategear also meshes with a gear 99 fixedly secured on .end I00 of the lower intermediate roll I03 for driving the same. The members 95, I00 and I6 drive lower rolls I02, I03 and I04 which have resting on the upper side thereof top rolls I05, I06 and I0I, respectively.

A strand of yarn I08 is fed between the rear rolls I02 and I05, then between the intermediate rolls I03 and I06, and then between front rolls I04 and I 61 for the drawing out operation. When it is desired to produce flake filling or an enlarged place in the strand the draft gear 93 is accelerated to a speed in excess of its normal speed by the means just described, thereby causing the gear 94 to be accelerated, which in turn, accelerates the two back shafts 95 and 99. This causes the back rolls I02 and I05 and the intermediate rolls I03 and I06 to introduce an excess stock of fibers between the front rolls I04 and I0! and the intermediate rolls I03 and I06. When the hub 61 is accelerated by collar 66 the crown gear I8 continues to rotate at the normal speed although disconnected from the hub and immediately upon the cessation of the acceleration the crown gear I8 is automatically connected to the hub to cause it to continue the normal rate of speed. As has been previously stated, this acceleration will cause the intermediate rolls to rotate for a short time at approximately the same speed as the front rolls while the back roll is accelerated proportionately, which means that there will be approximately no draft of the yarn between the front and intermediate rolls when this takes place, and consequently an enlarged portion will be produced in the strand.

Immediately upon the cessation of the accelerated speed of draft gear 93, by means of the collar 66, the draft gear proceeds at its normal rate of speed since the rollers 88 will immediately become effective to cause the crown gear I8 to be connected with the shaft 69 through hub 61 when the roller I3 is pushed in the opposite direction by the reverse rotation of the collar 66. There is no time interval during which the shaft 69 will stop during the change of the two speeds because the compression springs 89 normally hold the rollers 88 in contact with the interior surface of the crown gear I8 and the base of the slots I0.

One of the greatest objections in devices and clutches heretofore provided for the purpose of producing fiake filling is that there is a short period of time when the speed is changed from high speed to the normal rate of speed that the shaft will completely stop rotation until the slack or lost motion in clutch is taken up. In this particular type of clutch, there is no lost motion and immediately upon the cessation of the high rate of speed the normal rate of speed is resumed.

By referring to Figure 1 it is seen that the intermediate gear 2I also meshes with another gear I I0 fixedly mounted on front roll gear shaft III. This gear shaft has a gear 2 fixedly mounted thereon which is similar in all respects to shaft I6 just described, and is used to drive crown gear I8 which is identical to crown gear I8. This crown gear operates in conjunction with the hub 61 which is opposite hand to the hub just described, the hub being made opposite hand in order to produce an opposite rotation from hub 61 on the other side of the machine. Likewise the end of shaft 45 has pivoted as at 54 a link 55' which has its other end pivoted as at 56 to hell crank 51. The other leg of the bell crank has pivotally connected thereto as at 59' a link 60' which link is pivoted as at 65' to collar 66. The remainder of the mechanism on this side of the machine is identical to the parts just described and is operated simultaneously therewith to impart identical control to the draft rollers situated on both sides of a spinning frame.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a spinning frame, rear, intermediate and front rolls for drawing fibres, means for imparting a constant speed of rotation to all of said rolls and for driving the front rolls at a much faster speed of rotation than the other rolls, means for intermittently increasing the speed of rotation of the back and intermediate rolls comprising a drive shaft, a pinion mounted on said drive shaft, a second pinion mounted on the end of one of the front rolls and meshing with the first pinion, a stud shaft having a third pinion thereon, a fourth pinion mounted on the front roll and having engagement with the third pinion, a fifth pinion on said stud shaft for driving the back and intermediate rolls, an overriding clutch between the third pinion and the stud shaft, a housing mounted for rotation over a portion of said overriding clutch, means for intermittently rotating said housing at a greater speed of rotation than the normal speed of rotation of the stud shaft, and pattern mechanism driven by the drive shaft for controlling the movement of said housing on said clutch.

IRMA B. MCKEOWN. 

